Background:

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) have aroused interest in the development of molecular target therapy. More than 80% of the patients benefit from an inhibitor of tyrosine kinase, with an increased survival of five years. The adherence to treatment with imatinib is unknown in a specific population of patients with GIST.

Objective:

To measure the adherence to imatinib in patients with GIST and to know the factors by which it is influenced.

Material and methods:

Patients with GIST treated with imatinib, answering the Morisky-Green/Batalla questionnaire.

Results:

84 patients met the inclusion criteria; of them, 41 (48.8%) showed a lack of adherence to the treatment; the most frequently detected factor was forgetting to take the drug, in 53% of the cases, as a statistically significant factor. No other relationship between factors such as gender, socioeconomic status, education, comorbidities, side effects and the lack of adherence to the treatment were found.

Conclusions:

Forgetting the drug intake is the main factor in the lack of adherence to treatment, and it is related to the patient’s ignorance of the effects caused by the suspension of the drug or an irregular intake, which depends on the explanation by the treating physician.